The Real Deal New York

Joe Sitt’s Thor pays $800M for massive rental portfolio

UPDATED, 4:18 p.m., Jan. 5: Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities Residential is in contract for the purchase of the Caiola family’s entire apartment building portfolio for nearly $800 million, The Real Deal has learned. The mammoth deal for Caiola’s 800,000-square-foot rental portfolio is the biggest yet for Thor’s nascent residential arm and positions the firm as a major apartment landlord with more than a billion dollars in holdings.

The portfolio, which took the family patriarch Benny Caiola a lifetime to acquire, includes 25 elevator buildings in neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side and Midtown. A 200-unit Chelsea rental building at 250 West 19th Street is the pick of the litter, sources familiar with the transaction told TRD. The sources added that the deal was the biggest-ever trade of an elevator-building portfolio in Manhattan, but that claim could not be independently verified.

Representatives for Thor and Caiola couldn’t be reached for comment. No brokers are believed to be involved in the deal.